Service plan opinions

[ledwardz]

Hi folks,

My finance comes to an end in Feb and I've been offered and all in service plan for 35 quid a month for 2 years. This is the first car I've owned and was wondering if you guys have any opinions....

Car has 17k miles and is 3 year old.

It Includes
2 services (oil and filter change only)
2 MOTs
Roadside assistance (quite substantial- home start, driving to onward destination, hotel costs etc)
2 years warranty


If I organise myself
MOT and service for 245 quid from halfords
Roadside assistance only ( no perks) 15 quid as a bolt on insurance option
Admittedly I don't get any warranty but there is nothing I can forsee VW covering under this in anyways. They'll just say everything is wear and tear. Maybe I'm being a bit skeptical or missing the point of what this actually covers.

What do you reckon? I'm tempted to go it alone and save the 160 quid per year.

Cheers,

Lee.

[SRGTD]

I personally wouldn’t use Halfords for servicing. If I didn’t use VW, I’d find a good, reputable independent VW specialist that has a good working knowledge of VW’s and who’ll use VW approved parts and fluids. Also, with your car being a pre-facelift model (so it doesn’t receive OTA software updates), if your car’s serviced within the VW dealership network, they should check for any o/s software updates and apply them to your car when it’s in for servicing; they’ll also update the digital service record. A good independent VW specialist may also have access to VW’s online systems - if so, then they can also update your car’s online service record; not sure if they’d have access to software updates. Halfords are unlikely to have access to either software updates or VW’s online systems to update digital service records.

As for VW’s ‘All-In’ product; IMHO it’s not bad value. I don’t have any personal experience of making a claim under a VW extended warranty, but those owners on various VW forums that have made claims tend to provide good, positive feedback. On the Golf, a weak point is the water pump and thermostat housing, so quite a few owners on Golf forums have had these replaced under a VW extended warranty. Cost to replace is circa £800-£900, so it only takes one such claim and the warranty would pretty much pay for itself. Infotainment system failures are also known to happen, and they can be very expensive if a replacement unit is necessary. Depending on how risk averse (or not) you are will influence your decision on whether you buy an extended warranty or not, but ultimately only you can decide.

Maybe it’d be worth having a read through the All-In terms and conditions to see what the extent of the warranty cover is. You can then make an informed choice on whether or not to buy it.

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners- ... s-included

https://customer.vwfs.co.uk/content/dam ... itions.pdf

[grazuncle2]

if only we had a crystal ball... LOL

all insurances are great when you claim successfully and an expense when you don't. I have little confidence in my local VW dealership.. with this car or the previous 9N3.

I have a local indy who gets in a VW trained mechanic for stuff he can't/doesn't want to do.. cambelt/water pump etc. He is as straight as the day is long.

I have had 'extended warranty' stuff done from this garage but I personally think they looked for something to claim for me having messed up on previous software update they did. They went through the hoops of requesting from VW a warrant claim for me and was successful and I had a handbrake cable replaced - that I never mentioned and was never picked up in two years of going there.

it really is a minefield out there - whatever brand of vehicle you have. of course there will always be exceptions and not all indys are honest either. personal recommendation is the way to go; either a franchise or indy

[Harrihealey02]

I used the service pack option which included the extended warranty too and managed to use my warranty just 2 weeks before it expired and resulted in a huge engine strip down from a major oil leak around the camshafts area. Even though by the time the car was booked into the garage, as the fault was recorded before the end of the warranty it was covered. Not sure how much it would have cost in labour but easily £750 minimum.

[SRGTD]

@ledwardz; Very recent example at the link below of a forum member claiming under the All-In warranty for failed water pump. In the absence of the warranty, the cost of repairs would’ve been just under £1,000 at a VW dealer (maybe a little cheaper at a good independent VW specialist).

https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php? ... 48#p602189

If you decide against getting the warranty, it might be worth considering putting the money aside anyway that you would’ve spent on the warranty. You’ll be building up a fund that’ll help pay any for unexpected repairs during the ownership of your car. If you don’t have any unexpected repairs, then you’ll still have the cash to use for whatever you choose to spend it on .

[ledwardz]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Maybe a massive coincidence but driving to work on Friday night and a warning light come on the dashboard (was only the front distance sensor and it went away eventually). Didnt stop me from having a little poo in my pants though. Based on the advice and taking that as a sign I'll have to put my hand in my tight pocket and fork out.

Think my biggest peeve is that this outgoing will be my largest (with exception of obvious utility bills), infact, it'll be more than I pay for petrol a month which is soul destroying. She has a big mouth for a little polo

Cheers again,

Lee.